October 6, 2014

FIRST DAY IN MADRID

This impromptu european adventure began back in December when my mother (whom you'll see in this post and in the posts to come) won two confirmed tickets on Icelandair to the country of her choice. I had originally planned to visit one of my best friends who had been interning in Porto, Portugal this past summer; due to a serious of events I ended up calling my mother one afternoon while on my way home and telling her I wanted to join her on her European adventure. A few weeks later we were en route to Spain then France. I do love to travel and I try and do it as often as possible but this particular trip was special for my mom and I since it was her first time in Europe ever and my life-long dream to visit Paris was finally going to be a reality. We began our trip in Madrid where we stayed in a Novotel hotel, about 6 train stops away from the heart of the city. During our first day here we first napped, to recover a bit from our jet lag, then got ready and hit the town. We began our day at puerta del sol where we walked around, exchanged some dollars to euros then had lunch at a local chain "Los 100 Montaditos" by recommendation of a friend. By far one of the best local dishes of Madrid are the combination of a few montaditos and a caña to go along with it.

After lunch we walked around La Gran Via for a bit and ended up having a drink at the trendy rooftop of the Circulo de Bellas Artes (must visit if you happen to be in town) and enjoying the view of the city of Madrid from above. We ended our day by walking back towards the Puerta del Sol area where we had some delicious tapas (croquets and spanish omelet) for dinner at La Tintoreria. Overall our first day was a lovely introduction to Europe for my mom and a warm welcome back for me.

Well, thats all for now folks! Do keep posted for more on our european adventure! Hope you have an awesome monday and rest of your week!